under the foggy mountain

Chapter 9

Not long after seven o'clock, Tang Qinglian arrived at No. [-] Middle School. It was the rush hour for students to go to school. From time to time, cars and motorcycles drove up and stopped in front of the school gate. After the students got off the cars and motorcycles, the cars and motorcycles They drove away, and the students entered through a door next to the reception room.A few teachers who looked like teachers stopped in front of the school gate on motorcycles, and the electric gate slowly opened with a flashing red light, and the motorcycle drove in, and the gate slowly closed again with a flashing red light; more teachers and students They came here on foot, in twos and threes, in an endless stream.

Tang Qinglian looked at the school gate for a while and saw no one blocking her, so she also wanted to enter through the door next to the reception room. Just as she reached the door, someone in the reception room shouted, "Hey, wait!"

Tang Qinglian stopped, and a man with gray hair and wearing a security uniform came out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Tang Qinglian smiled at the security guard, and said timidly, "I'm looking for Teacher He, Teacher He Xuxia."

The security guard said: "Teacher He, have you made an appointment with Teacher He? Come, please come and register."

Tang Qinglian responded, and followed the security guard to the reception room. Just as she was about to register, the security guard asked again: "Sister, have you made an appointment with Mr. He?"

Tang Qinglian said, "No."

The security guard heard this and said, "Sister, let me tell you, it's still early, Mr. He may not be here, you'd better call the store next door and ask."

When Tang Qinglian heard it, she felt that it made sense, she backed out, smiled and said to the security guard: "Thank you!"

Tang Qinglian walked to the stationery store in front of the school, and there was a public phone at the door. She went in and talked to the boss, and pulled He Xuxia's pager.

After a while, the phone rang. Tang Qinglian picked up the phone, and He Xuxia said, "Who can unplug my amplifier?"

Tang Qinglian said: "Xuxia, it's me, Qingqing."

"Ah...Qingqing!" He Xuxia suddenly heard Tang Qinglian's voice, and felt a little nervous. After a moment, she calmed down and asked, "Qingqing, where are you calling?"

"I'm in the stationery store in front of No. [-] Middle School."

"Oh, Qingqing, have you arrived at No. [-] Middle School?" He Xuxia was a little surprised, and then complained again, "Oh, Qingqing, why didn't you call me in advance when you came to No. [-] Middle School? I'm in the car now, going to No. [-] Middle School and leaving It's been almost half an hour."

Tang Qinglian was just about to answer, but before she opened her mouth, He Xuxia asked worriedly: "Qingqing, you came to No. [-] Middle School so early, are you okay?"

Tang Qinglian said: "Xuxia, my mother is very ill. The doctor said it might be uremia. I want to go to the People's Hospital to ask."

He Xuxia asked eagerly: "What? Your mother has uremia?"

"Su Langzhong said that it might be this disease. Later, I took my mother to Huangqiao Central Hospital for an examination. The doctor there also said that it was this disease, and asked me to send my mother to the People's Hospital to see a doctor in the next few days. Today I will first Come and ask."

"Qingqing, don't worry! I'll be back in the morning. Well... Let me tell you, Huang Lingzhi is in the obstetrics and gynecology department of the People's Hospital. You can look for her, or you can go with me when I come back."

"Huang Lingzhi? Which one?"

"A classmate from No. [-] Middle School!"

Tang Qinglian thought for a while and said, "I remember, Huang Lingzhi! I don't like to talk when I wear glasses."

He Xuxia said: "Yes, Qingqing, I won't tell you any more. If I took our director's mobile phone to call you back, the phone bill is quite expensive... Hehe. We will go to No. [-] Middle School today to attend lectures and comment on classes. It's the assessment teacher, and I think I'll be back around eleven o'clock. You'll be waiting for me at No. [-] Middle School."

Before Tang Qinglian could answer, He Xuxia said again: "See you soon, Qingqing!" and hung up the phone.

Hearing the blind tone of "beep beep" on the phone, Tang Qinglian had no choice but to put down the phone, pay the phone bill, and come out.

Tang Qinglian was very disappointed.He Xuxia has gone to No. [-] Middle School and won't be back until eleven o'clock. Although she now knows that Huang Lingzhi is in the People's Hospital, don't worry about asking about her mother's condition, but she still wants to know the current situation of Cycas most urgently.She complained why she didn't call Xuxia last night.

Tang Qinglian looked at her watch. It was more than three hours before Xuxia came back. What are you doing during this time?She hesitated for a while, but decided to go to Cycad.She came to the side of the road, stopped a taxi, and soon arrived outside the Environmental Protection Bureau.

Tang Qinglian got out of the car, walked to a breakfast shop across the road from the Environmental Protection Bureau, ordered a bowl of rice noodles, then found a seat by the window and sat down, looking towards the Environmental Protection Bureau building. She knew Cycad's office was on the second floor, and wanted to Check to see if the door of the office is open, but the whole building is covered with blue glass curtain walls, so you can't see clearly.When the rice noodles were served, she felt full after only two bites.She sat there without moving for a long time. The waiter came over and asked her if she still wanted to eat. When she said no, the waiter started to clean up the almost untouched bowl of rice noodles.

Tang Qinglian came out of the store, walked slowly across the road, and walked into the gate of the Environmental Protection Bureau.After entering the gate, she lowered her head and quickly crossed the front lawn, from the stairwell in the middle of the building to the second floor.She knew some people from the EPA and was afraid to run into them.Su Tie's office is in the west, and she looked over from a distance, feeling nervous for a while.Having not seen each other for more than half a month, she suddenly felt that the two of them had become very strange, and she wanted to see him very much, but she was afraid that she would not know what to say when she saw him.She walked slowly to the door, which was open, and was hesitating whether to go in or not, when someone behind her suddenly called her: "Is Tang Qinglian? Why don't you go in?"

She turned her head and saw that it was Zhang Gong.Zhang Gong is the chief engineer of the Environmental Protection Bureau and the master of cycads.Zhang Gong looked at her with a smile, holding a big paper bag in his hand.

Tang Qinglian stepped aside immediately, smiled shyly, and called out: "Mr. Zhang, hello!"

Zhang Gong asked Tang Qinglian to go in first, Tang Qinglian smiled and stood still, so Zhang Gong had to go in first and said: "Come to see Cycas? Come, sit in the office."

Tang Qinglian nodded, and replied, "En." She followed Mr. Zhang to the office.

Su Tie was not in the office, Tang Qinglian asked: "Mr. Zhang, where is Su Tie? He..."

She wanted to ask Su Tie if he came back from BJ, but she felt it was inappropriate, so she didn't ask any more.

Mr. Zhang put the big paper bag on Cycad's desk, moved a chair for Qinglian to sit down, turned around to make tea, and said, "Su Tie hasn't returned from his studies yet. Our director Li went to BJ this morning, and the director asked him to pay more attention." Stay a few days."

Tang Qinglian felt relieved when she heard this, and murmured, "That's it! I thought he was back!"

Zhang Gong came over with tea, handed it to Tang Qinglian, walked to the desk and sat down, and said as he walked: "Our bureau has applied for a national project, and all the materials are made by Cycad. Cycad called back yesterday and said that the materials are still available." Some content needs to be added. Director Li went there personally with those supplementary materials.”

Tang Qinglian asked, "When will they return?"

Zhang Gong said: "If there is nothing else, I will probably be back the day after tomorrow."

At this time, a person came over and shouted at the door: "Mr. Zhang, Director Li is calling you."

Zhang Gong responded and said to Tang Qinglian: "The leader is calling me, you sit down." Then he went with that person.

Tang Qinglian looked around, and the office layout was similar to before.Seeing that Cycad's desk was rather messy, she walked over to help tidy it up.

Tang Qinglian moved away a pile of scattered materials, and the big paper bag that Zhang Gong had just placed on the table fell over, and some photos slipped out of it. She looked carefully and found that the paper bag was full of photos.She was about to put the photos that had slid out when a photo fell down.She picked it up and saw that it was a bust portrait of a young woman. In the photo, the young woman was wearing a pair of glasses. She looked delicate, her eyes were small, and she had some radiance, which was very elegant.Tang Qinglian's heart moved, she poured out all the photos in the bag, and looked at them one by one.Except for the bust of the young woman, these photos are of Su Tie himself, of Su Tie and his colleagues, and of Cycad and the young woman with glasses. Seven or eight of them are photos of Cycad and the young woman.

Zhang Gong came in from the outside, seeing Tang Qinglian looking at the photos, he said, "Those are all photos of cycads."

Tang Qinglian picked up a photo of cycads and young women, and asked Zhang Gong: "Zhang Gong, who is this girl? She is so beautiful!"

"She is a colleague in our bureau." Zhang Gong took a look, smiled and said, "Hey, she is still from your Huangqiao Town!"

"She's from Huangqiao Town?" Tang Qinglian was a little surprised, picked up the photo and looked at it again.

Zhang Gong said: "Yes! Her surname is Jiang, and she is the daughter of Mayor Jiang of Huangqiao Town."

"Oh, Mayor Jiang's daughter! I haven't seen it before." Qing Lian didn't know Mayor Jiang, put the photo into a paper bag and said, looking up at Zhang Gong, "Su Tie and this girl have a good relationship, let's take pictures together so many images?"

Zhang Gong smiled and said: "Su Tie is very popular in our bureau."

After Tang Qinglian listened, she didn't speak any more, and continued to organize Su Tie's desk.

Zhang Gong said: "Just now the leader asked me to deal with an environmental protection issue, and I have to go out. Are you going to sit here?"

Tang Qinglian hurriedly said: "No, Zhang Gong, thank you, I have to go too."

After Tang Qinglian went out, her mind was full of those photos and the girl in the photos, and her intuition told her that the relationship between Su Tie and this girl was unusual.She walked slowly, crossed the front of the Environmental Protection Bureau, exited the gate, and came to the road. Suddenly, there was a sharp and piercing brake sound from the left, and a car stopped half a meter away from Qinglian. , a fat white driver rolled down the car window, stuck out his head and cursed: "You want to die? How do you walk? Where did your eyes go?"

Tang Qinglian was so frightened that her face turned pale. When she came back to her senses, she realized that she had reached the middle of the road and hurriedly retreated to the side of the road.The driver wanted to scold, but was stopped by the woman sitting in the passenger seat. The woman said a few words to the driver, and the driver immediately changed his smile and smiled at Tang Qinglian.The woman opened the car door and came down, holding a bag in her hand, and called out to Tang Qinglian: "Qinglian, why are you here?"

The woman had shoulder-length curly hair, a fair melon-seeded face, long eyelashes and big eyes, and a mouth painted with lipstick, bright red. She was very beautiful. Tang Qinglian looked a little familiar, and thought she had seen her before, but she clearly didn't recognize this person.Seeing Tang Qinglian like this, the woman smiled and said, "Qinglian, don't you recognize me?"

Tang Qinglian tried her best, but she still couldn't recognize it. She smiled apologetically and said, "I seem to have seen it somewhere, but I just can't remember it."

The woman covered her mouth and smiled, "Qinglian, I'm Li Xiaoling!"

Only then did Tang Qinglian suddenly realize: "I remember, Li Xiaoling! You are Li Xiaoling! Oh, you have changed a bit, I don't recognize you anymore."

After Tang Qinglian failed the college entrance examination, she went to work as a waiter in a restaurant in the provincial capital, and lived with Li Xiaoling for two years.At that time, Li Xiaoling was thin, with two braids, and always looked at the ground when she spoke. Because she was a fellow from the same county, she was in the same situation and had similar personalities, so the two quickly became good friends.

Li Xiaoling laughed and said loudly: "Is that so? Is it more beautiful or ugly?"

Tang Qinglian smiled and said, "Of course you look better! It's not just ordinary, but very beautiful. Xiaoling, if you didn't say it just now, I really wouldn't recognize you."

"Qinglian, you are flattering me. How beautiful am I in front of you!" Li Xiaoling laughed happily, and then asked, "Qinglian, what are you doing here?"

Tang Qinglian said with a smile: "I came to the Environmental Protection Bureau to do something, and now it's over."

At this time, the car honked twice, and Tang Qinglian said, "Your husband is calling you, go quickly."

"It's not my husband, Qinglian! He's my partner. He's a bit impatient, but he's still a good person. Oh, by the way, Qinglian, I'm going to open a foot bath shop. Today, I made an appointment to go through the opening procedures of the foot bath shop." , I have made an appointment for a long time, and I just made an appointment today. I have to go." Li Xiaoling took out a business card from her bag and handed it to Tang Qinglian, "There is my contact number on it. When the store opens, welcome You come as a guest."

Tang Qinglian took the business card and said with a smile, "Okay, Xiao Ling, I will definitely come to congratulate you."

(End of this chapter)